Miles, Anne and McClements, P. and Steele, R. and Redeker, C. and Sevdalis, N. and Wardle, J. (2017) Perceived diagnostic delay and cancer-related distress: a cross sectional study of patients with colorectal cancer. Psycho-Oncology 26 (1), pp. 29-36. ISSN 1099-1611.
|
Text
14011.pdf - Author's Accepted Manuscript Download (683kB) | Preview |
Abstract
Objective: This study aimed to examine the effect of perceived diagnostic delay on cancer-related distress, and determine whether fear of cancer-recurrence and quality of life mediate this relationship. Methods: Cross-sectional study in which 311 colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors in Scotland completed a survey which included questions on cancer-related distress (IES-R), perceived diagnostic delay, quality of life (trial outcome index of the FACT-C: FACT-C TOI) and fear of cancer recurrence. 15 patients withheld consent to data matching with medical records, leaving a sample size of 296. Participants were an average of 69 years old (range 56 to 81) and between 3.5 to 12 years post-diagnosis. Multiple regressions were used to test predictors of distress, and regression and bootstrapping to test for mediation. Results: Perceived diagnostic delay was correlated with higher cancer-related distress, while objective markers of diagnostic delay (disease stage at diagnosis and treatment received) were not. Some of the relationship between perceived diagnostic delay and cancer-related distress was mediated by quality of life, but not by fear of cancer recurrence. Conclusions: Perceived diagnostic delay was associated with higher cancer-related distress among CRC survivors. While poorer quality of life partly explained such associations, fear of cancer recurrence, stage at diagnosis and treatment did not. The exact features of diagnostic delay that are associated with cancer-related distress remain unclear. Future research should examine the experiences patients go through prior to diagnosis that may increase distress, in an effort to improve our understanding of the factors affecting emotional wellbeing among CRC survivors.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | This is the peer reviewed version of the article, which has been published in final form at the link above. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving. |
| School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science > School of Psychological Sciences |
| Depositing User: | Anne Miles |
| Date Deposited: | 15 Feb 2016 16:21 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Aug 2023 17:21 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/14011 |
Statistics
Additional statistics are available via IRStats2.
Archive Staff Only (login required)
